Author: Justin Hill

  • A couple of days in Dublin

    A couple of days in Dublin

    I have no Irish blood in me. Well, maybe a few drops – about the proportion of insect legs the FDA allows in chocolate. But for some reason I’ve long felt drawn to the place. Maybe it started with that old Disney movie, Darby O’Gill and the Little People, with the pretty Irish girl. A few…

  • Dublin Tunes

    Dublin Tunes

    Here are a few clips of pub and street musicians I saw last week in Dublin, Ireland. Mutefish at Temple Bar, with some footage of a large leprechaun Brown Eyed Girl by a band at Gogarty’s Another guy at Temple Bar who was playing Johnny Cash until a drunk guy grabbed the mic and started…

  • Angels Landing

    Angels Landing

    Angels Landing is a tall rock formation in Zion National Park in Southern Utah. It’s an awfully fun hike. It’s about 3 hours roundtrip and the views get progressively more impressive as you go. The last half-mile gives amateurs like me a little taste of the thrill of the mountain climbing I’ll never do. It’s just…

  • Not dying in Delhi traffic

    Not dying in Delhi traffic

    There are four things I remember from reading Traffic: Why We Drive the Way We Do (and What It Says About Us) – Never make eye contact at an intersection in Mexico City Late merging is actually the most efficient use of road space even though it infuriates everyone else Risking your life to teach a bad…

  • Three minutes as folk-rock stars

    Three minutes as folk-rock stars

    Way back in 2010, the band Good Old War had a YouTube cover contest. The winner would get to sing on stage with them (they didn’t specify where). I learned about the contest at 9pm on the final day. I pulled my daughters out of bed to try to throw together an entry with our version of…